Salerno Raid

The Salerno Raid (3 September 1943) was a daring operation undertaken by United States airborne troops against Nazi Germany near the city of Salerno in southern Italy. The Americans succeeded in taking over German positions to assist the main assault in Operation Avalanche, despite heavy losses.

Prelude
In July 1943, General George S. Patton's US 7th Army and General Bernard Montgomery's British 8th Army both left North Africa and invaded the "soft underbelly of Europe" on the island of Sicily, quickly pushing back the German and Italian forces sent to defend the island. With the fall of Messina to Montgomery, the Axis Powers forces were forced to retreat to the "boot" of Italy, and the Americans planned to launch an assault on Italy at Salerno with amphibious and air forces. The Americans decided to raid the German positions first, as they could not hope to launch an amphibious attack against the Germans unless they had weaened their positions.

Battle
The American airborne troops were landed in the farmland not far from Salerno, and they called in US Air Force airborne reinforcements to assist in the capture of the German positions. The American forces had the initial advantage of stealth, but they attacked the German sandbag positions and alerted the Germans. Soon, the raid devolved into a battle between constantly-reinforced American soldiers and the German infantry. The Americans were also forced to engage oncoming German convoys on the road rather than ignore them, as the Wehrmacht was alerted to the Americans' presence. The ensuing fight left many Americans dead, but the Americans succeeded in taking over German positions in fields while braving machine-gun fire. The Americans succeeded in capturing the enemy positions, and Operation Avalanche was an Allied victory.